Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Erik Lamela has given fans some cheer after posting a new image of him working hard to return from his hip injury.

The EFL Cup defeat at Anfield on October 25 was the last time the 24-year-old pulled on a Spurs shirt. He missed the following Premier League game against Leicester City through illness.

After recovering from that he was preparing for the Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen when he felt discomfort in his hip during a training session at Hotspur Way.

Since then he has needed to deal with family problems back home in and Argentina and was also allowed to travel back to former club Roma for treatment on the injury due to the slow recovery time. His manager Mauricio Pochettino initially seemed concerned by the progress of his rehabilitation but in recent weeks has been more positive.

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Now Lamela has posted the following photo on an Instagram Story showing himself doing pilates exercises at night to help him get back to the required fitness, with a clock showing the time 10 o'clock on it. The image went up late last night.

Erik Lamela working hard last night to get back to fitness

It's not the first time Lamela has taken to social media during his rehabilitation period with a series of tweets denouncing rumours of an impending exit from Spurs as well as other personal issues, but they were swiftly deleted.

Spurs have missed the Argentine's creativity and aggressive pressing style and many fans have been hoping he will return in time to help them battle in the Premier League title race as well as in the FA Cup and Europa League if they are still in both competitions.

Until he returns, speculation will continue to persist about his future at the club with plenty of rumours surrounding a return to either Italy or Argentina in the summer.